


pumpkin spice (i hate it, it's not nice) (ok maybe it's a little nice)

by tsunamiroll



Series: solangelo auctober 2020 [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Cute Ending, Ficlet, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M, Meet-Cute, One Shot, annoyed nico, bc nico def gets annoyed, bc will is def a flirt, that was the goal anyway...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26751676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunamiroll/pseuds/tsunamiroll
Summary: “Normally I don't mind the scent, but five candles? That’s kind of overkill, don’t you think?” Nico said, wrinkling his nose as he waved a hand in the direction of said candles.Will gasped, ringing up his total. “There’s no such thing as too much pumpkin spice.”Nico raised an eyebrow. “Agree to disagree, then.”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: solangelo auctober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948210
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85
Collections: Solangelo Auctober 2020





	pumpkin spice (i hate it, it's not nice) (ok maybe it's a little nice)

**Author's Note:**

> yeah idk what the title is either...  
> for the auctober prompt "bookstore"

Nico didn’t particularly like books. Well, he enjoyed them as much as the next severely dyslexic kid did, which is to say, not particularly a lot. Audiobooks were nice, especially now that the weather was getting colder and you could curl up with a good book by a fireplace, or in a cozy blanket, or with a cat…

All this to say that Nico was not very thrilled to be standing outside a bookstore, in said cold weather, without a cozy blanket nor a cat. He pulled his jacket closer around him and briefly considered trading his leather jacket for something warmer the next time he went out, before he banished the thought. Nothing was worth ruining The Aesthetic TM . 

He stepped inside the bookstore and exhaled as the warm air washed over him. The smell of pumpkin spice washed over him as well, and he noticed some candles burning at the counter. No one stood behind it, but a little sign that probably said when the person would be back was on it.

Nico rubbed his hands together as he looked around the store, and moved out of the doorway. The place had a very homey feel. Bookshelves were spaced out around the place, as well as beanbags and tables. The place resembled more of a library than a bookstore, if Nico was being honest. At least, he thought this was what a library looked like. He hadn’t gone to one in a  _ very _ long time (again, not a very fun place to be when you're dyslexic).

Walking around almost made Nico lose focus on his goal, but he was reminded when he saw a suspended fish mobile. Right. Find a gift for Percy’s kid. Well, Percy and Annabeth’s kid. Actually, Annabeth was probably the  _ real _ parent, Percy either acted like a weird uncle or someone who had no idea what he was doing. Nico’s goddaughter. That's a better description. Also, why had a jellyfish reminded him of that? Sure, Percy was weirdly aquatic for a normal person, but he wasn’t nearly a jellyfish. Weren’t some of those immortal or something? Percy would definitely not be alive if it weren’t for Annabeth. If Percy was any aquatic animal, he was a goldfish. Attention span of thirty seconds, and all that. 

“Are you really here to read depressing books?”

Nico nearly jumped. He shook himself out of his mental ramblings and turned to face the person who had startled him, a sharp response on the tip of his tongue, and nearly forgot to breathe. 

A guy about his age was looking at him, a teasing smile on his face, but helpful eyes. He had beach blonde hair, and a matching tan skin tone, and  _ wow _ why did he look like the embodiment of summer? Summer was over, Nico thought vehemently, this guy has no  _ right _ to look like the weather is anything about 50 degrees. He was wearing a plaid shirt and khakis, and there was a nametag pinned to his chest that read  _ Will, _ and underneath was the name of the bookstore. An employee, then.

Apparently Nico was silent for too long, because the guy -- Will -- looked concerned instead of summer-y when he said: “Uh, you okay?”

“Yeah.” Nico bit out, “And no, I’m not here for depressing books, I just happened to wander over here.”

“Hm, sure,” Will asked, his eyes flitting over Nico’s black leather jacket, black shirt, black pants, piercings, and going back to the books Nico was in front of. Nico followed his gaze and winced when he was greeted with  _ The Tale of Two Cities _ and  _ Grapes of Wrath _ . Maybe that thing Hazel was saying about sadness being drawn to him was true… “What  _ are _ you here for, then? Unless you come in just to look, which is also fine. Although I don’t know why anyone would want to look at  _ these _ .”

Nico glared at the employee. “I’m here for a gift for my niece.” 

Will blinked, and looked back at the titles in front of him. 

“How old is this niece? I’m pretty sure only people older than twenty can get through…” He pulled a random book off the shelf and read the title, “ _ The Jungle.” _

Nico huffed, “She’s turning eight. And I told you, I just wandered over here.” 

“Okay then,” Will put the book back, “What does she like?”

Nico didn’t have to think before he answered. “The ocean.” It was like the weird aquatic obsession was genetic or something. 

“We have some cool books about that, if you want to check those out.” He turned over his shoulder and made his way further into the store. Nico followed. “I got one for my sister, she’s also obsessed with nature and all that, and she loved it.” Will had a smile on his face that reminded Nico of Hazel, and her bright happiness.

“How old is she?” Nico found himself asking.

“She’s eight too, actually. Just turned eight last week.” He said proudly, glancing at Nico. Nico felt a blush rise on his cheeks from that smile.  _ Damn _ him, he looks straight out of a surfing magazine.

“What about you, you said your niece was turning eight?” Will asked, and as he did he pulled out some books from the bookshelf. 

Nico nodded, “Yeah, this is supposed to be her birthday gift.”

“Our sisters were almost birthday twins.” Will lamented, and Nico laughed at his actually sad tone. 

“ _ Hey _ , don’t laugh, that could’ve been cool!” Will said, “We could’ve had a joint birthday party or something.”

Now it was Nico’s turn to blink, “Uh… We just met each other.”

Will winked and smiled, “I’d like to see more of you, though.”

Nico blushed, and looked away. “What books did you find?”

“Oh!” Will exclaimed. He held up the books in his hands, and Nico was forced to look back at him. He still wore that sly smile, and it looked like it grew when he saw how flushed Nico was. Nico quickly took the books to flip through them, but as he did their fingers brushed. Nico could almost feel the steam coming out of his ears, but he ignored that in favor of looking through the books. You now,  _ the actual reason that he was here. _

The books that Will picked out were all really nice, though. One was a completely technical, encylopaedic book that Annabeth would probably like, the other was almost entirely pictures, and one was in between. Nico chose the in between one, since he  _ did _ want Estelle to learn something, but the pictures were beautiful too.

“I think I’ll get this one, then.” Nico said, lifting that book up. Will nodded, and gestured for Nico to follow him as he walked to the counter. The smell of pumpkin spice was especially strong there, and Nico winced at the onslaught.

“Not a fan of the halloween festivities then, I take it?” Will laughed, his eyes sparkling as he scanned the book.

“Normally I don’t mind the scent, but five candles? That’s kind of overkill, don’t you think?” Nico said, wrinkling his nose as he waved a hand in the direction of said candles.

Will gasped, ringing up his total. “There’s no such thing as too much pumpkin spice.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Agree to disagree, then.”

Will shrugged, a playful smile playing on his lips, before he announced his total. Nico slid his credit card over, and there was an awkward silence as Will fumbled with the cash register and finally got the receipt to print.

“I don’t need the receipt, actually,” Nico said as Will tore it from the machine.

“Eh, I think you’ll need this one.” The other boy said casually as he wrote something down at the bottom and added it to the bag anyway.

Nico blushed at the other boy's smile,  _ again _ , god his cheeks were probably as red as that pumpkin spice candle. Will winked as he handed the bag over. Nico blushed. Nico almost tripped on his eagerness to get out of the store. He nearly ran to his car, pulling open the door and threw the bag in, before starting in the car. He tapped the wheel, but didn’t pull out of his spot, instead throwing suspicious glances to the bag.

He made a frustrating noise before he finally ripped the receipt out of the bag and glanced at the bottom. 

_ Hope your niece likes the book as much as I like you ;) _ _  
_ _ 469-XXX-XXXX _

Nico huffed, “He wrote a winky face? He  _ wrote _ a winky face.” But even as he said that, he was typing the number into his phone. And sending a text that simply said  _ you’re embarrassing. _

His phone buzzed not thirty seconds later.

_ Well, I got you to respond, anyways. Are you free for coffee tomorrow? _

Nico would later deny how quickly he responded.

_ as long as there’s no pumpkin spice. _

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i am not very proud of this haha, but i said i would do the auctober challenge, so i'm doing it! the prompts are up on the tumblr solangeloweek, if you want to participate or find some more works by people! you can check me out on tumblr too, if you want, i'm tsunami-roll! until next time.


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